Bruxism monitoring device

ABSTRACT

A bruxism monitoring device comprising a flexible, inelastic mouthpiece for snugly engaging one of every pair of occluding teeth whereat bruxism is to be monitored, the mouthpiece having generally vertical sidewalls providing one or more recesses to receive one or more teeth and a thin biting plate interconnecting the side walls for disposition between upper and lower occluding teeth, the plate including a plurality of layers, each layer having a color distinguishable from the colors of adjacent layers.

Unite States Patent [191 Forgione BRUXISM MONITORING DEVICE [76]Inventor: Albert Gerard Forgione, 5 Rollstone Rd., Marblehead, Mass.01945 [22] Filed: Sept. 4, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 394,349

[52] US. Cl. 32/19 [51] Int. Cl. A6lc 9/00 [58] Field of Search 32/19,20, 21

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,653,029 9/1953 Shore279/53 2,183,624 12/1939 Schwartz 3,421,223 1/1969 Stark 32/19 1 June 4,1974 Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Joseph S.landiorio [57] ABSTRACT A bruxism monitoring device comprising aflexible, inelastic mouthpiece for snugly engaging one of everypair ofoccluding teeth whereat bruxism is to be monitored, the mouthpiecehaving generally vertical sidewalls providing one or more recesses toreceive one or more teeth and a thin biting plate interconnecting theside walls for disposition between upper and lower occluding teeth, theplate including a plurality of layers, each layer having a colordistinguishable from the colors of adjacent layers.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 26 (Wh/fe) 'PATENTEDJUN 4 m4 Fi/G. 2.

FIG. 4.

FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to a multilayer bruxismmonitoring device and more particularly to such a device in which eachlayer is distinct from adjacent layers.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Bruxism, the abnormal, excessive,non-functioning grinding of teeth is of interest to both psychologistsand dentists. To psychologists the occasion of, and extent of bruxismmay be important as an indication of emotional stress, and may be usedas a tool for understanding behaviour whereas dentists are primarilyinterested in the results of tooth grinding. Measurement of the area andof the intensity of tooth grinding of a person i.e. the area of theteeth actually undergoing grinding and the force applied in the grindingare important in evaluating the psychological problems and in predictingthe probable damage to the teeth and associated areas. Conventionaldevices for measuring tooth grinding are generally expensive and involvecomplex electronic equipment. Trained technicians are used to employ thedevice and monitoring periods are kept short because of inconvenience tothe patient. These factors tend to limit widespread use of thesemonitoring devices. The use of such devices is also inconvenient becausethe periods of highest tooth grinding activity usually occur at nightwhen the patient is sleeping.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a simple. inexpensive, easy to use bruxism monitoring devicewhich can be applied by the patient himself and can be engaged for longperiods during sleep with minimum interference with the patients normallife style.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a bruxismmonitoring device which measures both the area affected by, and theintensity of the bruxism.

The invention features a bruxism monitoring device including a flexible,inelastic mouthpiece for snugly engaging one of every pair of occludingteeth whereat bruxism is to be monitored. The mouthpiece has generallyvertical side walls providing one or more recesses to receive one ormore teeth. A thin biting plate is interconnected between the side wallsfor disposition between upper and lower occluding teeth. The plateincludes a plurality of layers; each layer has a color distinct from thecolors of adjacent layers. In preferred embodiments the topmost layer tobe exposed to the uncovered occluding teeth may have printed upon it apattern of lines or dots to facilitate measurement of areas abraded orworn away. This printed pattern may be covered with a thin. clear layerof plastic.

DISCLOSURE OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Other objects, features andadvantages will occur from the following description of a preferredembodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axonometric view of a bruxism monitoring device accordingto this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along lines 2--2 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view looking upward at the mouthpiece shown inFIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed view of one tooth recess of themouthpiece shown in FIG. 3 with a portion worn away by bruxism.

The bruxism monitoring device of this invention may be embodied in amouthpiece which snugly engages either the upper or the lower one of apair of occluding teeth at which bruxism is to be monitored. Themouthpiece may be constructed to accommodate one or more such pairs ofupper and lower occluding teeth and typically is used to monitor bruxismbetween all of the upper teeth and lower teeth. The mouthpiece ispreferably constructed by any well known technique whereby a mold of theparticular patients teeth may be constructed. However, such exactness isnot required so long as the mouthpiece snugly engages either the upperor lower teeth including the group of teeth between which bruxism is tobe monitored. The mouthpiece is formed of a flexible but inelasticmember. The member is flexible in order to accommodate discrepanciesbetween the shape of the mouthpiece and the patients mouth and to permitthe mouthpiece to more comfortably and snugly engage the patients teeth.The mouthpiece is inelastic in that biting or other pressure to whichthe mouthpiece may be subjected in the patient's mouth does not causethe mouthpiece to be substantially deformed or otherwise lose its shape.The mouthpiece includes generally vertical sidewalls which provide oneor more recesses to receive one or more teeth, with which it is tosnugly engage, and a thin biting plate which interconnects the sidewalls for disposition between upper and lower occluding teeth. Thesidewalls may extend along the teeth and over the gums or just short ofthe gums or just barely over the crown of the teeth; a function of thesidewalls is to help locate and snugly engage the mouthpiece with theteeth. The plate includes a plurality of layers having mutuallydistinguishable colors; each layer has a color which is distinct fromthe colors of adjacent layers. Preferably each of the layers is adifferent color for easier evaluation. The

In one specific construction the biting plate is formed of four layersof polyvinylchoride each having a thickness of 0.005 inches. The layerclosest to the engaging teeth is white; the next layer is blue; the nextred; and the outermost layer, the first to be worn away by bruxism bythe occluding teeth, is also white. The outermost white layer may beprinted with an edible ink dot screen of 50 percent coverage and coveredwith a clear plastic coating 0.001 inches thick. The final layer ofclear plastic may also be polyvinylchloride. The total thickness of thelayers is 0.021 inches.

The invention may be accomplished using a mouthpiece 10, FIG. 1,including vertical walls 12 and 14 interconnected by a biting section16. Mouthpiece 10 may be constructed with recesses 18 which conform tothe teeth of the patient that is to use the mouthpiece 10 so thatmouthpiece l0 snugly engages one or more of either the upper or thelower teeth of the user. The outside of recesses 18 form replicas 18 ofthe teeth they engage. In FIG. 1, mouthpiece 10 is an upper mouthpiecedesigned to engage all of the upper teeth of the user. Biting section16, FIG. 2, includes four layers: layer 20, closest to the engagingteeth, is white; the next layer 22 is blue; the next layer 24 is red;and the fourth and outermost layer 26 is also white. White layer 26 iscovered with a 50 percent halftone pattern 28 visible in FlG. l and theentire mouthpiece is covered with a thin coating 30 of clear plastic.Walls 12 and 14, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, are formedcontinuously with the same layered construction as biting section 16,for ease of fabrication.

When a particular tooth replica 18, FIG. 3, such as replica 32, is wornaway the underlying layers are exposed, FIG. 4. First the clear coating30 is worn away exposing a portion 26 of white layer 26. Next whitelayer 26 is worn away exposing a portion 24' of red layer 24. Next redlayer 24 will be worn away exposing a portion 22' of blue layer 22,following which blue layer 22 will be worn away exposing a portion ofwhite layer 20. The area of portions 26, 24, 22' and 20 indicates thearea of bruxism occurring at tooth 32, the colors of the layers exposedindicates the depth of penetration and thus the intensity of thebruxism.

In operation one or more mouthpieces 10 are formed to fit a particularpatient. The patient may then take these mouthpieces with him and putthem in his mouth at predetermined times for predetermined periods sothat the bruxism can be monitored throughout extended periods of timesduring the night or day, during weekdays or weekends without the aid ofa technician and the inconvenience of electronic sensors and similarapparatus.

Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are withinthe following claims:

What is claimed is:

l. A bruxism monitoring device comprising a flexible, inelasticmouthpiece for snugly engaging one of every pair of occluding teethwhereat bruxism is to be monitored, said mouthpiece having generallyvertical side walls providing one or more recesses to receive one ormore teeth and a thin biting plate interconnecting said side walls fordisposition between upper and lower occluding teeth, said plateincluding a plurality of layers having mutually distinguishable coiors.each layer having a color distinguishable from the colors of adjacentlayers.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said mouthpiece engages teeth in theupper set of teeth.

3. The device of claim 2 in which said mouthpiece engages all of theteeth in the upper set of teeth.

4. The device of claim 1 in which said layers decrease in hardness withincrease in distance from the teeth engaged by said mouthpiece.

5. The device of claim 1 in which said layers decrease in thickness withincrease in distance from the teeth engaged by said mouthpiece.

6. The device of claim 1 in which the layer farthest from the teethengaged by said mouthpiece has a pattern on its surface to facilitatearea measurement.

1. A bruxism monitoring device comprising a flexible, inelasticmouthpiece for snugly engaging one of every pair of occluding teethwhereat bruxism is to be monitored, said mouthpiece having generallyvertical side walls providing one or more recesses to receive one ormore teeth and a thin biting plate interconnecting said side walls fordisposition between upper and lower occluding teeth, said plateincluding a plurality of layers having mutually distinguishable colors,each layer having a color distinguishable from the colors of adjacentlayers.
 2. The device of claim 1 in which said mouthpiece engages teethin the upper set of teeth.
 3. The device of claim 2 in which saidmouthpiece engages all of the teeth in the upper set of teeth.
 4. Thedevice of claim 1 in which said layers decrease in hardness withincrease in distance from the teeth engaged by said mouthpiece.
 5. Thedevice of claim 1 in which said layers decrease in thickness withincrease in distance from the teeth engaged by said mouthpiece.
 6. Thedevice of claim 1 in which the layer farthest from the teeth engaged bysaid mouthpiece has a pattern on its surface to facilitate areameasurement.